Department of Homeland Security

Department of Homeland Security

How Coronavirus is Changing US Asylum Policy at the Border

How Coronavirus is Changing US Asylum Policy at the Border

The Trump administration detailed its plans to begin rapidly deporting to Mexico people encountered at or near the southern border—without any due process—as the coronavirus continues to spread throughout the globe. The plans were released in a new order issued by… Read More

What Will It Take for USCIS to Reduce Its FOIA Backlog?

What Will It Take for USCIS to Reduce Its FOIA Backlog?

March 15 marks the beginning of Sunshine Week – a week devoted to celebrating the importance of government transparency and access to public records. It is a time to point out the lack of openness and accountability among immigration agencies and to assess what must be done to fight for… Read More

How the Coronavirus Is Impacting Immigration

How the Coronavirus Is Impacting Immigration

Spread of the new coronavirus, COVID-19, has caused panic across the United States. With the number of confirmed cases on the rise, the coronavirus has started to affect several facets of immigration. How government officials handle the virus could have a significant impact on people navigating… Read More

Judge Stops DHS From Arresting US Citizens’ Foreign Spouses During Marriage Interviews in Maryland

Judge Stops DHS From Arresting US Citizens’ Foreign Spouses During Marriage Interviews in Maryland

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been targeting U.S. citizens’ foreign spouses when they apply for legal immigration status. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Maryland put a halt to this practice. For the past few years, couples attending interviews about their marriages sometimes faced a terrible… Read More

The Fight to Stop ICE From Destroying Records About Deaths and Abuse in Its Custody

The Fight to Stop ICE From Destroying Records About Deaths and Abuse in Its Custody

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to destroy thousands of records documenting horrific treatment of immigrants in the agency’s custody. The records contain vital details about people’s experience in immigration detention. They include information about deaths in detention, investigations into sexual and physical abuse, and medical and civil rights… Read More

Trump Bars New Yorkers From Traveler Programs Over State’s Refusal to Cooperate With ICE

Trump Bars New Yorkers From Traveler Programs Over State’s Refusal to Cooperate With ICE

The Trump administration is cracking down on New York over its refusal to share residents’ driver’s license records with immigration authorities. Now, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has barred all New Yorkers from four of its five “trusted traveler” programs. New York residents can no longer enroll or… Read More

A Humanitarian Catastrophe at the Border: One Year of the 'Migrant Protection Protocols'

A Humanitarian Catastrophe at the Border: One Year of the ‘Migrant Protection Protocols’

One year ago today, a confused Honduran man seeking asylum in the United States became the first person to be turned away from the border and sent back to Mexico to await a U.S. court hearing. He would become the first of nearly 60,000 people subjected… Read More

Lawmakers Call for Release of All Transgender Migrants From ICE Custody

Lawmakers Call for Release of All Transgender Migrants From ICE Custody

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill sent a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) this month demanding the release of all transgender people in ICE’s custody. At least two transgender women have died in the last two years. Both died following multiple, ignored requests for medical attention in… Read More

Privacy Concerns Over Trump’s Demand to Collect the DNA of Hundreds of Thousands of People

Privacy Concerns Over Trump’s Demand to Collect the DNA of Hundreds of Thousands of People

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began collecting DNA from people held at the border earlier this month. This is part of a pilot program that DHS plans to expand nationwide. The program is currently operating at the port of entry in… Read More

Student's Deportation Shows a Pattern of US Government Targeting Iranians

Student’s Deportation Shows a Pattern of US Government Targeting Iranians

Iranian students coming to the United States are being stopped at airports, having their visas revoked, and are being deported. Advocates warn this trend is emerging less than a month after hundreds of Iranian Americans were stopped and interrogated at a port of entry between Washington… Read More

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